[Mission 2024] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 15 August 2023

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Article 1 of the CCM bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster bombs. The convention further obligates countries to destroy existing stockpile of cluster munitions in their possession. Countries are also legally bound to develop a victim assistance programme to provide support and rehabilitation to the cluster bomb victims in their jurisdiction.

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Solution: c)

Randomized controlled trials (RCT) are prospective studies that measure the effectiveness of a new intervention or treatment. It provides a rigorous tool to examine cause-effect relationships between an intervention and outcome.

Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical techniques, medical devices, diagnostic procedures or other medical treatments.

RCTs involve dividing a population into smaller groups, in order to comparatively see the outcomes of an external stimulus. For example, if the aim of a study is to understand whether a free grains distribution scheme helped improve the nutrition levels among people living in a district, researchers will first create two groups within the population, and then put people into those groups randomly.

RCTs also cannot be used to study something after it has happened, they need to be planned beforehand. And, while RCTs show results for a particular population in an area, it may not be proof that the same results will be achieved elsewhere, especially if the sample size is not big or the trial deals with a very specific kind of population sub-group.

Solution: d)

The United States’ Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS Act) completes one year. The Act authorises $52.7 billion over five years to boost American competitiveness, innovation and national security in semiconductors.

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Solution: c)

India’s semiconductor industrial policy is being managed mainly by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The schemes for manufacturing, assembly, displays and compound semiconductors have been assigned to an independent division called India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) within a non-profit company set up by MeitY. The policy for chip design is being administered by C-DAC, an R&D organisation again under the MeitY. 

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Solution: c)

Fiscal profligacy is opposite of fiscal prudence. It is the act of spending money or using something in a way that wastes it and is not wise. The costs of fiscal profligacy at the State level can be huge.